


Reflections from fantasy

by Green_Sphynx



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Late Barry, M/M, Mild fandom slang, Online Roleplaying, Secret Identity, Smooth Snart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-20 17:50:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17626856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Green_Sphynx/pseuds/Green_Sphynx
Summary: When fiction reflects the real world so well, the real world starts reflecting fiction





	Reflections from fantasy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [daydreamingstoryteller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamingstoryteller/gifts).



**'The Flash hesitated, not trusting Cold's advances immediately. Cold had tricked him so often by now, the Flash was not ready to dive straight into betrayal again.**

**Especially not when Cold was so…** _**close** _ **. The Flash could feel the man's breath on his lips, colder than one would expect from a living man, but he didn't dare close that gap. He didn't dare taking that last leap of faith and let Cold make a fool out of him once again.**

**A kiss may seem harmless, especially compared to the much more catastrophic ways Cold had betrayed his trust before, but at the same time it would hurt much,** _**much** _ **more than finding a safe Cold had promised not to loot empty after all, or a hostage tucked under the villain's arm despite their deal. This was too personal.'**

 

Barry breathed deeply, face burning even though nothing had actually happened. Nothing had happened in _fiction_ , let alone in reality. But he still had to go splash cold water on his face after hitting the send button, pacing the small bathroom of his apartment at superspeed to try calm himself down.

He had never expected it could come to this, when he found out about all the online art and fiction concerning the Flash.

He'd found embarrassing fanfics about him getting fucked by the Rogues or the Green Arrow, but those were always written by fans who knew nothing about them. It was more endearing than it was disturbing to Barry.

But then he'd found the RPing and he couldn't help himself. People roleplayed as the Flash, as his associates, as the Rogues and metahuman OCs with wondrous characters and powers. It was a fantasy world based on real life people, dotted with fictional self-inserts where people could dream of being heroes or villains themselves.

These RPs contained a lot of sexual stuff too, but plenty of it was just regular, safe for work conversations and adventures, to downright crack. It looked like fun, and Barry just _really_ couldn't help himself.

So he made a roleplaying blog for the Flash himself.

He stuck religiously to no shippy RPs with anyone - if not for his own sanity, than for the risk of Felicity or Cisco snooping and crowing about his fictional romantic or sexual interests. No shipping, just fun stuff and character building.

Bringing self-insert to entirely new levels.

But that no-shipping rule had been unexpectedly watered down by one particular Captain Cold roleplayer. The RPer had Cold's voice down pat in the way he wrote, and soon enough Barry was almost obsessively replying to their threads only. And they had threads; oh they had threads. They plotted and they had joke RPs, they had AUs with a villain Flash and a anti-hero Captain Cold. Barry lost count of their amount of threads, but the threads of the other people he RPed with got buried beneath those of him and this one Captain Cold.

And then _this_ happened.

 

**'It was easy to see the hesitation in the Flash' eyes, and Cold had to admit he deserved it. He betrayed the Flash so often, it was a wonder the Flash even tolerated him at all anymore. The kid was really too nice for his own good.**

**But that was the problem right now, wasn't it? The Flash was too nice, and Captain Cold had taken a proper liking to the hero.**

**If the Flash wouldn't move, Cold would have to do it himself.**

**Cold raised one hand to carefully cup the back of the Flash' cowled head, slow and steady like approaching an easily spooked animal. If the Flash truly didn't want this, he would have plenty of time to pull back while Cold leaned in to close the final distance between their lips for a kiss.'**

 

Barry threw a toilet roll through the bathroom with a screech, unable to contain himself.

He couldn't _believe_ he was RPing himself kissing Captain fucking Cold. And yet here he was, quickly typing a response on his phone without even bothering to get up from the toilet first.

 

**'The Flash may have all the time in the world for anything with his superspeed, but that didn't mean his brain would always catch up just as fast with what was happening. His whole body stood frozen for several seconds, just taking in the press of Cold's lips against his own, before he finally sprung to action.**

**He pressed forward, arms reaching around Cold's body so his fingers could bury in the thick parka on his back, pushing into the kiss harder than entirely necessary. He just wanted more of it, but he was unable to ask - unwilling to pull away and verbalise his request. He just wanted to taste those lips with his tongue - he could do that, thinking about it, flicking his tongue against Cold's lips.'**

 

If Barry was going to do this, he might as well go all out. He could only pray that Felicity was not prying into his shit and reading all his RPs. Or Cisco. As long as nobody found out he had this roleplaying blog, he was going to be fine. Nobody had to know he totally had the hots for Captain Cold.

He'd found Leonard Snart attractive from the first time he'd seen his mugshot, but it had never been anything more than that. An attractive man who was still an asshole and a criminal, and a royal pain in the Flash's arse. It wasn't important that he was attractive.

But now? He had gotten to know this fictional version of Captain Cold inside out over the weeks RPing, and he had completely fallen for the guy. It was entirely unfair that he had to remember this was just some fan playing a character, not actually Snart, and that his increasing feelings for the real man were wholly misplaced.

So very, _very_ misplaced.

And yet he couldn't stop himself when he got a notification of a reply, eagerly reading how fictional Cold deepened the kiss with tongue and how hands started to stray, and even more eagerly writing his response with his hands also starting to stray and pieces of clothing being pulled off.

It was past midnight when they wrote the conclusion of their sex scene, with the Flash and Captain Cold pressed together on a cot in a Rogues' safehouse, and Barry might have jacked off at least four times through the evening as they wrote. When the ping of a chat message from the Captain Cold RPer came, he did not hesitate to answer.

 

[acolddayincentral] _Hey, I never planned to bring a ship on this blog, your Flash completely seduced my Cold. Wanna meet up for coffee sometime?_

[imtheflash] _Same here! You know Jitters?_

[acolddayincentral] _Sure. Saturday 3pm? I'll sit in the back corner_

 

That was little more than twelve hours from now. Plenty time to sleep, masturbate another time pretending he wasn't imagining Leonard Snart instead of a fictional Captain Cold, shower and get there. Even for Barry 'always late' Allen.

 

**'"Didn't see that coming, Scarlet." Cold carefully tucked a lock of hair behind the Flash' ear, watching the beautiful face that had been hidden behind a mask for so long. He didn't recognise him, still had no name for him, but he could appreciate the little he got. "If they ask, you seduced me with that tight red leather showing off your bubble butt all the time."'**

 

—

 

Barry was late. He was really, absolutely, completely, undeniably late.

It wasn't his fault that Cisco called him to stop a robbery and he had to save people from getting hurt in not one but _two_ car accidents on the way. And then Joe called to ask if he had remembered to file that one report last night before going home, which he hadn't because the Flash and Captain Cold had been _kissing_ , so he had to superspeed himself through the CCPD to finish and file the report without anyone noticing he was late.

By the time he got to Jitters he was half an hour late, and almost certain his fellow RPer would have left thinking they had been stood up by now.

Almost certain, but he still held out hope. And despite all his fears, the back corner table was taken by one person, a black leather jacket draped over the back of the chair and Captain Cold goggles dangling from the corner for recognition. Barry couldn't see the man's face yet - it was a man? Barry thought all RPers were women, after talking with so many of them - but he would in like, ten more steps. He was _nervous_ and excited and had the store appropriate jitters just from seeing the buzzcut, broad shoulders and that sinful leather jacket.

Considering how late he was Barry skipped getting himself coffee, hurrying to the corner table instead to meet his favourite roleplay partner. But when he rounded on the man…

_He could not have seen this coming at all._

Leonard Snart. Right there on the chair where Barry would meet up with a Captain Cold RPer sat Leonard Snart. And Barry was gaping at him, jaw dropped like he was trying to catch fish.

The only consolation was that Snart looked as shocked as he did, eyes wide but mouth only slightly open. Snart's jaw snapped closed with an audible click of teeth, and back was the smirk and the smug look in his eyes.

" _Barry_ , what a _surprise_. To think I was here to meet up a stranger. A fan of the Flash, no less."

Barry opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find words to say, but he had no such luck. Snart's expression got a little more certain in its smugness at Barry's failure to respond, and he gestured to the chair across the table.

"I had you ordered a Flash, but it's probably cold as _ice_ by now."

Barry's eyes flickered to the full mug of dark coffee in front of him. Snart was probably right in that it was cold, but a boost of caffeine might just be exactly what Barry's brain needed to get working again. He grabbed the mug and chugged down the lukewarm coffee as if his life depended on it, slamming the mug back down and meeting Snart's amused eyes.

They were pretty eyes, actually. And with that smirk of his came tiny little crows feet crinkling the corners, which should not be as attractive as it was.

Barry cleared his throat. " _You_ are the Captain Cold RPer."

"And you the Flash," Snart rebuked, still far too amused.

"Why?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Snart played idly with the spoon in his empty mug, distracting Barry for a moment.

"What… what we RPed last night-" Barry's face burned at the memory. He'had jacked off to that RP, imagining Snart. Repeatedly. This was only getting more embarrassing by the second.

"I play the character true to myself." Snart leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hands. He looked entirely serious all of a sudden, and Barry gulped nervously. "What happened last night was a natural progression after getting to know you- your Flash character as you play him online."

"I play him true to myself too," Barry blurted out, feeling somewhat like a deer caught in headlights under the calculating look he received for this.

"So we just played out what would happen if we spoke more often." Snart sat back, suddenly all smirks again. "I have to say, I liked the end result. What do you say, shall we see if it ends the same in real life?"

Barry hesitated. He liked the idea, he really did… but could he trust Snart? It was one thing to play out a fictional version of himself kissing a fictional version of Snart, but to do it for real? Snart had betrayed him more than enough to give Barry reason for caution.

"This is not a proposition to fall straight into bed, Scarlet." That knowing look made Barry's face burn even harder, and he had to look down at his empty mug, unable to look Snart in the eye anymore.

"Fine, I'll give it a chance. But don't think I trust you completely now just because our fictional versions do."

Snart laughed and extended his hand for Barry to shake. "Deal. The reverse is true as well."

"You don't trust _me_?" Barry's eyes widened, but he shook Snart's hand regardless. A deal. _Another_ deal between them. But this one was… hopeful.

"You're a hero, I'm a criminal." Snart shrugged, and then he stood up sharply. "Let's walk, Scarlet. They keep this place too warm for me."

Barry laughed, because that was so _Cold_ to say. It was chilly enough outside to make Snart happy without it being so cold it would bother Barry, so walk they would. Walk and _talk_ and get to know each other, like their fictional characters had before them.

And if they somehow ended in a bed in one of Len's safehouses that night, tangled limbs and kiss swollen lips, well, it wasn't like they really had to get to know each other all over again anyway.

 

—

 

**'"I don't know, Cold… that doesn't really sound fair." The Flash smiled, arching his neck to nip at Cold's fingertips after they finished tucking his hair back. "I clearly remember you kissing me first. That makes this** _**your** _ **fault."**

**Not that he was complaining. He wasn't complaining at all.**

**The Flash rolled over to lie on top of Cold, wrapping his arms around his lover's head as a little nest. "So does this mean I get to call you Len now?"'**

 

Len was laughing at the text on his phone, pulling Barry's body close to his side so he could press a kiss to his temple. "Absolutely, _Flash_."


End file.
